“You know, you look at this team and everybody, including myself, has said what’s wrong with this team all year long. We don’t do this, we don’t do that or we’re too small or we don’t have enough depth or we don’t play hard enough or we’re not hungry enough. And all they’ve done is they’re the No. 3 overall seed, and they’ve won two games in the tournament and are going to the Sweet 16. We’ve got to win two more games to get where we want to go. But I’m so proud of our kids and nobody can say that they haven’t had a great season. Now we have to go make great (turn into) special.”-Bill Self

Time to give this guy some props for his defense and intangibles on the court so far this year.

His defense on Saturday against Paschall was outstanding. He was locked in. Talked after about the film he watched on how to guard him and its refreshing to see how much detail he put into that matchup. Overall I thought he did as good a job as we could have hoped on him.

We all know his 3 point shots are prayers, he constantly clanks the first free throw at the line and he’s struggled finishing on drives but man does this kid compete on both sides. He’s a valuable ball handler as we saw when Nova went to a full court press. It’s nice to know if Dotson is struggling or in foul trouble that we have a ball handler that can get into the offense. He has great hands and awareness when looking for steals. More importantly we have a guy that can matchup with someone’s best scorer 1-4 positions. Great to have.

He scores 1 point but his impact on the game seemed to outweigh what the box score says. Now if the staff could only get that shot fixed…

What an unbelievable performance last night. Dare to say that tops Kevin Durant’s performance here years back but after playing 54 of 55 minutes and putting on a clinic all through the OT’s I do say this was the best performance by a non KU player ever in this building.

And he does it with class… If you saw his post game interview with Scott Van Pelt he was all class even though you could sense he was upset leaving here without a victory.

And our fans, the one’s that were left gave him a standing ovation. Name another fan-base that will do that for a kid on the other team. Not ISU, Not KSU…KU is all class even its fans, although sometimes we all have our moments.

I’ve been a fan of his for a while but I gained a whole new appreciation for him. He had moments last night that reminded me of how Steph Curry is playing in the NBA. He’s that good, I do think he’s got a chance to become an NBA all-star the way he carries himself and the hard work he has put in to be where he’s at.

I’m jealous he’s not in a KU uniform, I’m jealous Self didn’t see what kind of player Hield could become, but who could have?

Thanks Buddy for putting on a show but respectfully missing that last 3 in triple OT. I will never forget that game.

I’m not going to lie I spent a good portion of the game just watching what he does on the court. It is clear to see that he changes this team in so many positive ways. I thought his debut was as good as advertised, a great starting point for him. The opponent was terrible but these are the games he can develop feel for the game.

The word is he’s “raw”. You can see that certain things will take time like the turnover he had to start the game. Or his pursuit to block everything even when it wasn’t his man. He’ll have to learn court awareness and the timing to leave the floor for blocks because good teams will exploit that over-pursuit but boy does he know how to alter and block shots. I had forgotten just how elite his skill is.

Diallo showed a few nice moves, including the And-1 but the footwork and speed to get by his defender was something that reminded me of Joel. I think we will see a daily evolving skill-set for this guy just like Embiid showed us.

Did anyone watch the game and think this is Joel 2.0?? I got that feeling watching his variety of highlights.

The block & Mailman dunk by the way was awesome. I know Self was rolling on the sideline about it but every now and then a little fun never hurt anyone.
Call me impressed, regardless of the opponent, this guy is what can make this team elite!!

First off great win, this team really rallied around itself and fought hard in the 2nd half. Frank Mason your playing at an All-American Level and if it wasn’t for your heroics in both games I’m not sure where or what we’d be feeling about this team.

Before I go any further I have to ask a serious question to this board

Is the game of College Basketball fun to watch with the way the officials are calling the game?

I find myself angry with how the game is being called. This is significantly worse then any year I can ever remember rules being enforced. 48 fouls last night, 60+ in the Indiana game, this isn’t acceptable. Where has the let the kids play aspect of this sport gone?

Are we okay with Josh Jackson getting a foul for trying to get a loose ball or his 5th foul where he came back into the game for less then 10 seconds? Or the 4 point play Duke got at the end of the game? I could on and on about countless other moments of just “I don’t know what the ref’s are doing”.

Jay Bilas mentioned outside of 3-4 calls every call was justifiable. That these calls were always fouls, they are just now being enforced.

I disagree with this statement. I didn’t see this officiating in the Kentucky/Michigan St game, I didn’t see this in the Oregon/Baylor game I watched earlier in the day. So why is KU getting stuck with some agenda driven officials? RANT over for now…

Positives from the game:

Frank Mason

Have to start with this guy. That last second shot felt Sherron Collins-esqe. He’s got that fire in him. Played a great game. I didn’t expect his impact on this team would standout so much but its clear that this is HIS team and we’ll live and die with how far he can take us.

Welcome Josh Jackson

Stretches of that 2nd half where you felt the beast coming out of him. He had what I thought were 3 legitimate gripes on foul calls. Totally disrupted him all night. If not for the foul calls he probably would have showcased a huge game, 15 pts in 18 minutes and he was active. Has to learn how to stay in the game and his FT shooting leaves a lot to be desired. Keep working Josh. He needed that game.

Doke the stat stuffer.

Funniest moment of the game, watching Doke try and take the ball on a 1 man fast break. Missed the layup, got his own rebound, Dunked and then flexed about it. I thought he was terrific in the 2nd half whether it was rebounding or fighting for points in the lane. With the way Lucas played again the Big Fella might be starting soon.

Devonte Graham

He made some really great acrobatic layups last night. His defense was stellar all night. He finally came to life, he was big. What is up with his cramping?? Concerning issue. Played all 40 minutes, a true gamer.

Carlton Bragg

Looked more comfortable again. Besides the obvious foul trouble he had a huge baseline jumper and I thought played well. He competed for rebounds and snatched a few I didn’t expect from him. Keep evolving Carlton.

Team Defense

We were really locked in to their offense for a good 30 minute stretch there. Forced Allen into a bad shooting night and generally gave them fits trying to get good shots. We rebounded well, and gave great effort on defense. Nothing we can do about the crazy amount of foul calls,

The bad:

Lucas

What’s wrong with him? How much longer can we ride him being a non-factor. Is the injury really hurting him or are we just seeing the real Landen without Perry around to help him. Is the motivation gone that made him step up last year? Concerning. If Doke plays like he did going forward, hard to see him not passing Lucas.

Svi:

Actually I thought Svi played well but how do you miss that point blank layup?? That is all. Would have loved to see one of his 3’s go in, the one he had wide open off a blind pass from Mason would have sealed the game.

3 point Shooting:

Where is it? 2-17 is hard to overcome

FT Shooting

9 of 19, won’t cut it in games that come down to the FT game. Hopefully these guys get some shots up and practice

After Saturday’s events which saw KU claw to victory against Texas, OU benefit from terrible officiating, and K-St take out its 2nd big victory in a week in Iowa St. Monday brings a big matchup between OU and ISU. If Iowa St holds serve at home we win the Big 12 with a win Tuesday.

Last week I started the root or “rout” for Baylor Bears thread and we were graced with a victory from them over ISU. This week it’s the opposite we want Iowa St. to win at home against OU and practically eliminate them from any championship hardware.

Everyone knows our last game is at OU on their Senior day and we don’t want to go into Norman with Oklahoma having something to play for. We need the Cyclones to kill those dreams and KU can crown themselves at home. How great would that be for all this team has gone through to beat West Virginia and claim #11 at home. I certainly can’t think of a better situation.

So for One night Only I will half heartedly become a Cyclones fan. Who’s joining me??

For those that haven’t payed much attention to the rest of the Big-12 this may be for you to get up to speed as we inch closer to conference play. I will go through each team labeling them Contender or Pretender. I’ve watched 2-3 or more games on each team so far. This may not play out to be accurate at season’s end but this should give a good idea of who stands in our way to #13.

Baylor. Ranking: #4 AP, KenPom- #11. Adj O- #15, Adj D- #14.

Contender

Maybe the most talked about Big-12 team besides KU this non-conference is Scott Drew’s Bears. 8-0 with big wins against Oregon, Xavier, Louisville and solid wins against VCU & Michigan St. Officially it says they have won against 4 ranked teams but we all know Izzo’s squad is not a Top 25 team this year.

Is Baylor for real? Yes they are.

Replacing their starting PG, do it all SF/PF & C should have led to growing pains but their replacements Manu Lecomte (Miami transfer) and Jo Lual Acuil Jr (red-shirted due to heart condition) both used the red-shirt year to develop their games. Jonathan Motley entering the starting lineup has also had a big effect on this teams efficiency at both ends of the floor. Last year he was a 6th man type, this year he’s their leading scorer and no questions asked best player. So far these three players have shown to be better then the guys they replaced from last years squad. That’s tough to say especially when Prince was drafted & Rico Gathers ended his career as one of the top rebounder’s in Big-12 history.

The win against Louisville is their biggest win so far. Winning in that weird ball-room place in the Bahamas (KU lost to Villanova a few years ago) showed a tough team. They were down 22 points and looked hopelessly beaten. They looked like a typical Scott Drew team that was folding playing top competition. But then the game changed and Baylor found a way to come back and eventually won. Louisville will be a solid top 10ish team all year, its a big win. The Oregon win looks good on paper as well as Xavier but both times Baylor got lucky playing them at home. Oregon was also short their best player and looks like a team that is still putting itself together. Xavier might not be a Top 10 team this year but it was another statement win.

The one question every KU fan and Big-12 fan knows though is can Scott Drew coach this team up in Big-12 play. Are they peaking now? Can the zone-match-up defense that gives teams fits in non-conference play hold up when teams who play them annually scout and pick apart game film to find weaknesses. Is Baylor’s home court atmosphere good enough to win big games against KU and others? If the answer to those questions is yes, then KU has perhaps its biggest challenger in years on its hands. OU & Iowa St looked poised to take KU down last year and just couldn’t survive the gauntlet that is Big-12 play. Holding serve at home and getting 1 or 2 lucky breaks on the road is absolutely needed to win this league. You have to play perfect almost every night.

West Virginia: Rank- #15 AP- KenPom #9- Adj O #16- Adj D # 8

Contender: “Sigh”

I’m not sure which team I despise more: Huggy Bear’s slap attack or ISU’s weatherwax delusional clan. I guess they both can be on equal footing.

Huggins again has a team that can contend for the Big-12. The AP poll has them lower then KenPom which has them a solid Top 10 squad right now. They haven’t played a tough non-conference, just two games that even stick out. Temple is decent and had a huge lead over West Virginia in a neutral court game. Temple blew the lead like a lot of teams do facing non-stop pressure, WVU came back but didn’t have enough clutch shots in the end to get the comeback victory. Just this past week West Virginia went into Virginia and got a huge win on the road. It was a chippy low scoring slugfest. Pack-Line defense against nagging full court pressure. Virginia is not the Virginia of the past few years offensively- and without arguably their best player who was kicked off the team just a few games into the season for what sounds like a drug problem, UVA is 3rd or 4th best ACC team this year. Still a road win is a road win and it shows that no matter how much talent you have, a certain style of play can overcome weaknesses on a team.

As far as West Virginia’s players go, Devin Williams is gone (thank every basketball god out there) Paige is gone- he was a nuisance and Jonathan Holton who was the lead man on their press is also gone. Esa Ahmad a former top 100 player who had a typical freshman year last season has become their leading scorer. Their 2nd leading scorer- Nathan Adrian? Who? Now sports a made for TV haircut instead of his traditional buzz cut. Seems like he’s been at West Virginia half a century. Went from 4 pts a game to over 10. Juniors Jevon Carter who looks 50 with his hair-line and new dirty player of the year nominee Daxter Miles (see my thread about his dirty hit on a Virginia player) are still kicking around fouling people and launching 3’s.

I struggled with putting this team as a contender because I don’t think this years squad is that good. Their style of play dictates they can muddy up any game and keep them from losing games they might otherwise. Other than Virginia they haven’t played a team that wouldn’t beat a bottom dweller in the Big-12 so the jury is still out on how good they really are. Last years WVU squad would roll this years version by 20. But there is enough veterans on the squad to think they will find ways to win some games on the road and they always give KU their super bowl effort in Morgantown in which we always wonder if the ref’s drink the local water before the game, or they are secretly wearing West Virginia shirts under those zebra uniforms. Self has never figured out how to attack the press without us fans pulling our hair out. The home/away games will be tough especially with how they are scheduled.

Iowa St: Rank- #25- KenPom #23- Adj O #31- AdjD #19

Contender

In what should be Iowa St.'s last year as a Big-12 contender for a while, Prohm has 6 seniors in his rotation. Gone is George slow-mo Niang and Predator clone McKay from last years squad. Niang was not replaceable and Prohm went the transfer route to try and replace some of the production lost.

Monte Morris has taken over this team and is the leading scorer. Deonte Burton has really come on in recent games and is a match-up nightmare for most squads who don’t have an undersized athletic forward roaming around on their team that weighs 240. Naz Long comes back for his 17th season after medically red-shirting with a hip injury. He’s been terribly inefficient so far shooting the 3 ball. Matt Thomas is one of those 4 year players that you love to have on your team and hate to play against. Iowa St literally has no one on the team over 6’8. Josh Jackson is as tall as their tallest guy. That in a nutshell has exposed their biggest problem this year- post size and depth. They have neither and Prohm is forced to play mid-major small in a power 5 conference.

Schedule wise Iowa St has played 3 teams with a pulse and lost 2 of them. Miami is rebuilding, Iowa St beat them on a neutral court then lost to still Undefeated Gonzaga 2 days later in a hard fought 2 point game. Monte Morris blew a chance for a game winning shot by not even getting one off in time, which for a Senior leader is inexcusable. Gonzaga is a top team again this year so the loss isn’t the end of the world. Last week Iowa St dropped an OT game against Cincinnati in which both teams were allergic from putting the ball into the basket. A 55-54 OT game. Cincinnati usually makes every game they play a fall asleep type affair but this game was filled with lots of missed shots.

The #'s so far say Iowa St is a better defensive team then offensive team. That is usually the opposite as Iowa St spreads the floor and takes jumpers whenever they feel like it. I feel a lot of it is due to Niang being gone. He was such an offensive juggernaut from all over the court and his point forward ability allowed ISU to have 2 PG’s on the floor at all times. Without that guy on the floor who could get a basket anytime he wanted ISU has had to rely on other individual talents. Because of the Seniors on this team I still have them as a contender and with the 2nd best home-court advantage in the league they always have the ability to hold serve for 9 games in-conference. This isn’t ISU’s best squad and it will show in road games where they struggle to get timely buckets and lack size to protect the rim and rebound.

Oklahoma- Rank- None- KenPom #42 Adj O #59 Adj D # 35

Pretender

No team lost more from last year then this squad. 3 starters, Buddy Hield, Cousins, Spangler. They had a banner year making the Final 4 and playing one of the best games in Allen Fieldhouse history. Left is PG Jordan Woodard-their leading scorer and C Kadeem Lattin a defensive player with an emerging offensive game as he’s averaging double figures now. Christian James has emerged as their 2nd leading scorer and is trying to follow in the footsteps of Hield, similar game and player. 3 Freshman are contributing and 2 other Sophomores who played sparingly last year. Young squad, definite rebuilding year.

So far they have dropped an OT game against Northern Iowa, beaten an okay Clemson squad and got blown out by Wisconsin on the road. OU looked promising early against Wisconsin but then the Badgers took over the game after halftime and made the final margin of victory look like a blowout. That game to me signaled that they are going to struggle at times in Big-12 play. They have talent, more so then 80% of the league but its going to take Kruger time to get them to play together. I think they could upset a few teams and make the NCAA’s because we all know the coach is good and has a proven track record for developing his team. They are still shooting the 3 ball well as a team and they are lucky that 4 year starter Woodard is still around to take pressure off the rest of the squad. They look like a 11-7 to 9-9 Big-12 squad this year.

Texas Tech: Rank- None- KenPom #31 Adj O- #33- AdjD #38.

Pretender

This might be the toughest team to get an early season prediction on because they have played literally nobody so far. Auburn is a young squad with some talent but probably an SEC afterthought again so the 2 point loss to them doesn’t bode well for them making the NCAA’s without some marquee Big-12 wins. The #'s so far say they are better then average but seriously who wouldn’t look good beating Houston Baptist, North Texas, Eastern Kentucky, Utah St, Incarnate Word, Rice, UT San Antonio. So far its the 11th worst out of conference schedule of 351 teams. They play nobody until traveling to Iowa St to start conference play.

New head coach replacing Tubby Smith is Chris Beard who got Arkansas Little Rock into the NCAA’s and knocked off Purdue in one of those epic first round games. Beard inherited a good team that made the NCAA’s themselves but stood no match for Butler. Starting Center Odiase has not even played this season but Texas Tech is 8-1 anyway. A key graduate transfer in Anthony Livingston is providing solid scoring so far and overall they have 7 guys averaging 8 points or more a game.

They certainly have the experience back and players to finish in the upper half of the league but its hard to predict that with them playing such a soft schedule so far. When they played a Power 5 school they lost and they had a chance to tie the game with 4 seconds left but Aaron Ross- their leading scorer’s shot was blocked. Until this team proves itself in conference they could be a team that finishes 11-7 to 7-11. The ceiling is there for them to continue off last years success with a 1st year coach.

TCU: Rank- None- KenPom- #51 Adj O- #67- Adj D- #54

Pretender

First year coach Jamie Dixon comes back to his Alma-Mater after a successful stint at Pittsburgh where he routinely made the NCAA tourney. TCU was undefeated until last night when SMU blew them out at home. SMU is a tough place to travel and win but the margin of victory says that TCU still has a long ways to go. There was some chatter they would be ranked but good thing this game gave everyone thinking that a wake up call. The two wins against Washington- a perennial underachieving team with NBA talent are probably not going to be substantial resume wins by end of season.

Dixon has some talent leftover from the previous regime and he did land a Top 40 PG in Jaylen Fisher who has been solid so far 11ppg, 4 assists. Alex Robinson a transfer from Texas A&M has been their leading scorer. Perennial disappointment Karvier Shephard is still around, Kenrich Williams is back from a knee injury and is averaging a double/double so far. Brodziansky- a twig post has also become one of their leading scorers in his 2nd year with the team. TCU plays 10 guys on the regular and has depth to stay in games. Can a good coach make that much of a difference in 1 year to change the winning culture around the program. Will fans show up and support the new coach and updated facilities? They should do better than 2-16 but its more likely 7-11 would be a big turnaround for this squad. KU does travel down to TCU for the Big-12 opener so we’ll get to see soon if TCU is improved…

Oklahoma St: Rank- None- KenPom- #47 Adj O #27 Adj D #81

Pretender

First year coach Brad Underwood brings an exciting style of play to OSU that Travis Ford never did. I think this was the best hire in the Big-12 in the off-season that has 3 new coaches. So far OSU is top 10 in tempo- they play fast and take lots of shots. Offensive numbers have been staggering so far but when they have played better competition they have come back down to earth. UNC absolutely destroyed them when some people were starting to take notice of this team.

Future NBA Sophomore Juwan Evans leads the Big-12 in scoring at 23 ppg. His shooting #'s so far are impressive and some TV guys have compared his game to Chris Paul. I think his usage % is near 34% so he’s getting big numbers while also getting a lot of opportunities. Phil Forte is back for his senior year after having his year cut short last season with injury. Just another guy your like “he’s still around”. Never been a fan of this guy and every-time he plays KU its his Super Bowl. Jeffrey Carroll might be the guy who’s benefited the most from the switch in style and coaches as he’s doubled his scoring average from 8 to 16 this year. Oklahoma St has 3 guys averaging 14 pts or more a game so they definitely want to score the basket. OSU plays 11 guys in its regular rotation and has 7 guys who have attempted 15 or more 3’s on the season.

Schedule wise they have dropped games to UNC as mentioned before in Maui & a 1 point loss to Maryland who’s in a down year from past squads. Otherwise their best win is against a struggling Georgetown team and a injury stricken Uconn squad down to 6 or 7 healthy bodies. OSU has 1 more chance before conference play to get a big win traveling to Wichita St next weekend. Style wise this team might surprise in Big-12 play by scoring but the biggest issue is this is a team that doesn’t defend anything. When Central Arkansas & Rogers St (must be a Div-2 squad) can score over 85 points against them imagine what KU and others will put up. Of course the last game of the regular season- traveling to Stillwater is the annual Bill Self can’t win in Gallagher Iba reunion. This year we don’t travel in February, its the 18th game of the schedule so maybe this will break the curse that has followed this team in that gym.

Kansas St: Rank Never, KenPom- Overrated Adj O # false Adj D # biased

Pretender

Did I mention yet that K-St sucks? If not then I am saying it now. Just how delusional are K-St fans. They have actually had a discussion I’ve seen that says their talent is a wash at most positions this year with KU. The water in Manhattan must have a nice spike to it. I don’t expect anything less from them because its typical, so typical that all you can do is laugh. Hey some K-St fans still think Dean Wade is the next Larry Bird. It would be like them to have the worst coach in the Big-12 with that pip-squeak voice that follows when he opens his mouth. How many more years does Bruce Weber get. They could have had Underwood- instead they get mediocrity- at best.

What else is there to say about this team. They have played a bunch of YMCA squads at home, lost a 1 point game to Maryland- not the only Big-12 school to do that so far. Cream puff central so far in out of conference play. Not wasting anymore time discussing them. They will finish last in the league in my opinion and I’ll be so happy if that does happen

I forgot Texas.

At this point Texas is a pretender. Shaka has a lot of work to do with this squad and at 4-4 they are struggling mightily to win games. I think we’ve talked up Texas enough over the weeks. I see them as a bottom level Big-12 team unless they figure out chemistry and the PG mess they got going on.

Kansas played its first game without Carlton Bragg Jr., who was suspended indefinitely after being arrested in connection with a domestic battery incident. The Jayhawks beat Nebraska easily but will need Bragg back at some point to go deep in the NCAA tourney.

Am I the only one that disagree’s with this statement " need Bragg to go deep in the NCAA tourney"?

Bragg is not a starter, how can he be the difference between what KU will do in March. It would be nice to have Carlton back with his head on straight and play to the level we all hoped he would this year but that seems like a stretch right now. It would certainly be a bigger blow losing one of our guards then Bragg.

First off, I want to wish everyone on this board a Happy Holidays. This is a special place to visit and talk daily about KU and for that, I hope everyone gets to spend time with family and loved one’s this upcoming weekend. You all make this place so much fun.

I know some may have missed the game last night due to the ridiculous cable packages that put this game on CBS sports. I was lucky I picked up the sports package just before Football Season rolled on and was able to see the game.

Short synopsis- 1st half -good, 2nd half -less than good.

UNLV is probably one of the 30 worst D-1 schools this year. Just don’t have the talent or development to say otherwise. A team that was torn apart by departures, coaching changes etc. KU should have won by 30-40 points but we left the bright lights with a 71-53 win. A 22 point lead at half got scary close to becoming a before Holiday meltdown (we’ve had those in the past). Then Svi made some shots and made everything fine again. What a season Svi is having and I couldn’t be happier for him.

I’ll be honest I went to bed a bit angry with how the 2nd half unfolded. I thought the guys mailed it in for a good portion of the half. UNLV was getting good shots and made them. Energy level was down and some of our best players were not performing.

Today is a new day though and after reading and thinking things through, I’m not going to take much from this game. First true road experience, First game without Doke and finally guys looking forward to seeing their families made this game forgetful after halftime.

We have plenty of time to prepare for the Big-12 opener against TCU on the road. Traveling to UNLV gave some of our young guys (Jackson, Vick, Bragg) valuable experience for that game. Plenty of game film for Self to use in practices next week where the effort will have to pick up a good amount to leave TCU with a victory.

I don’t think anyone should be too upset about the game if you have some doubts after last night. We can park this game in the “average” category and still left with a 18 point win.

Lucas & Bragg rebounded well. Their offense was forgetful though. Loved their efforts on the glass. Lucas set some hard screens last night, an underrated quality for him.

Jackson & Svi carried the offense. Dynamic kids at 6’8 they cannot be stopped if they are playing at a high level. Jackson does about 4-5 things a game that just jump off the chart. His effort level in the 1st half was awesome. Svi is continuing to evolve in the offense both Outside/Inside. If he to be aggressive to the hoop he makes this team dangerous in the absence of a real post presence.

Mason & Graham were disappointing, especially Devonte who didn’t seem engaged in the game at all after the first minute. Mason looked banged up on at least 2 different plays. Come on Frank! Not going to worry about them but they definitely didn’t bring their A game’s last night. Mason did have 1 incredible left-handed layup on the break though. Amazes me how good he is at the rim sometimes.

He only suspended him after it was apparent he had no other option. I cannot assume but I’m sure the ACC and Duke felt the pressure to finally make the punishment stick this time.

He didn’t sit him the 2nd half of the game in which he committed the trip which to me said all I needed to know about Coach K. He saw the play, it was right in front of his bench. He saw the tirade that Allen put on after on the bench, right in front of him again. Inexcusable from player and Coach in that situation.

How much of Allen’s issues are directly related to Coach K’s antics as a coach? I would say they are closely tied together. I respect Coach K, amazing coach but the suspension was 1/2 of a game and a day late. Duke and the ACC knew the media was coming after them full throttle and that’s why the suspension ultimately happened.

Our advantage again is our guards in this game. Benson & Pritchard are not athletes and cannot stop Mason or Graham. Oregon will play a soft press into a zone and switch into man at times. Basically Villanova Elite 8 all over again. Cannot have a ton of live ball turnovers against this group. Guard the shooters, make our shots.

Quick rundown of the players:

Tyler Dorsey is the biggest concern IMO for Oregon. He’s been shooting the lights out of the ball. KU recruited him out of HS. Kid has really stepped up late in the season.

Dillon Brooks and Jackson is a fantastic matchup. Probably will be a lot of KU fans first introduction to the theatrics of Brooks. He’s got game, but if JJ is locked in defensively can force him into a volume shooter. Brooks is a very emotional player and can carry a team. Has made a few game winners this season (UCLA, Cal).

Dylan Ennis is 2-15 from 3 last five games, hopefully that continues. 6th year guard, he’s something like 25 years old.

Payton Pritchard has been solid for them as a freshman. Can shoot it but has struggled recently as well. Had a big game in the the first round, hasn’t done much in the past two games.

Jordan Bell is one heck of an athlete. Lucas has his work cut out for him again. Might be the best shot-blocker in the country. Has expanded his offensive game. Have to keep him off the boards, heck of a rebounder. Forcing him into foul trouble is a key to look at.

Casey Benson- steady point guard who shoots most of his shots from 3 (53% of made baskets from 3).

The Bench: Williams & Benson are the primary subs. Significant drop down to Williams. They have used another freshman big Keith Smith sparingly. No other guards play. KU would be smart to be aggressive and force fouls.

That article does send a worry up the ol spine because so much of this teams goals rely on Diallo being apart of it from the beginning.

I would like to think that Self had found out what he needed to know before signing him and that his clearance is the NCAA dragging it’s feet yet again… At least this issue isn’t popping up in September when we would certainly be waiting on the edge of our seats.

If he isn’t eligible then i’m going to hide myself in a basement and scream…

I remember the announcers using this phrase during the game last night and I thought to myself, this team is performing like one.

How exciting was it to watch this team dismantle a rebuilding SDSU team in a tough environment.

I mean right now what is there to be critical on? We could go on about post minutes but that’s going to be a on-going discussion this whole year. I’m enjoying the ride, this looks like the best KU team in years, the potential to be better than 2012 team or 2008.

Call me impressed so far. Last night was a big win, a perfect lead in to the holidays…

Seen a lot of chatter that Devonte isn’t ready for the NBA. Lately I agreed because it certainly seemed like he was not giving his best effort out there. I’ve been hard on him this year because he should be more consistent and playing like the player we all know he is.

Yesterday was a sort of coming out for him. Made shots, aggressive offense, active defense and just was the jelly to masons peanut butter. That 1-2 punch was the deciding factor yesterday.

I’m pulling for Frank harder then any KU player that’s gone onto the draft. He must do well this week in the Combine and I can’t imagine he’s going to disappoint in a setting where he’s in a show and prove situation. As a PG and a scoring assassin he’s got an advantage going into this process. I really hope he makes it in the league

The Sydney Kings professional basketball team in the National Basketball League in Australia announced with gusto on Thursday night the signing of former KU standout Perry Ellis.

According to the release, Ellis will participate in a full summer schedule in the United States before joining his new teammates in Sydney unless an NBA contract is offered as a result of his summer performances.

Returns to full contact drills next week. Positive signs, lots of conditioning, film study staying apart of the team despite the limits to his injury. Italy will be the biggest benefit to him out of any player on the roster

KU coach Bill Self told the Journal-World on Thursday that Azubuike was “right on schedule” with what team doctors had hoped during the rehab process.*

“We anticipate him being full contact next week,” Self said. “And that’s right where the doctors said he’d be.”*

Despite the injury, Azubuike continued to work closely with the team throughout the season, even going through workouts that did not put the wrist in any jeopardy. Self said earlier this spring that the KU big man did more running and conditioning after the injury than he did before it.*

Although the season did not allow for much on-the-court learning, Azubuike learned a lot from film and from observing the Jayhawks in action and will enter the summer leading up to the 2017-18 season expected to be a major part of next season’s team.**

Seems how 7pm is an eternity. Checking out the highs and lows of this team.

Since “the talk” between Coach and Newman (4 game sample):

16.7 pts, 6 boards, and his effort for the most part has been terrific. I have been mighty critical of his fit on this team but whatever was bothering him seems to have passed. For that I was wrong about Malik recently and I’m glad to see him impacting the game for us. Several board members have posted that Malik living up to his rep was just as important as getting another big man eligible. If that 3 ball creeps up to 40% we have a “new man” the rest of the season right?

Paging Lagerald Vick? Where are you:

I’ve been stunned by this development. Since the opening Big-12 game against Texas, Vick has been a ghost in terms of his impact on the game. Last 6 games- 7 pts a game, first 13- 17.3 pts pg. Is it competition, is it pressure? This is more then a slump, Self has even tried bringing him off the bench. Almost every statistic is down for Vick in conference play. We need him to shake out of this. Or is this just a correction to what he really is? Was his hot start meant to cool down. Whatever the case it would be nice to see Vick snap out of this.

The Freshman:

Marcus has struggled to shoot the ball. Saying he’s struggling is being nice. However despite his FT and 3pt issues he’s making 57% of 2’s on the season. He rarely turns it over and rarely gets yelled at for his defense (something he’s ahead of the curve at). Still I’m not sure its a good thing he’s averaging more rebounds then points per game. He needs a game where he makes 3-4 shots, give him some confidence. Sometimes you wonder if that’s in him this year though.

Silvio- 13 minutes, 2 pts, 3 boards, 4 fouls. Have to be patient here. Hopefully he puts the last game behind him and just continues to grind away. I’m optimistic in February we start to see what he could be to this team.

Udoka’s remarkable consistency:

If you had told me at the beginning of the year Udoka would average 14 & 7 I would have said no way, not after missing most of last season. He’s improved leaps and bounds in areas and has become a legitimate post presence for KU. His FT shooting remains a great concern as 41% doesn’t fix itself easily. Self hire a guru to help this guy out. Doke is also averaging almost 3 blocks a game in the last 4 and showing better court awareness finding open teammates when they look to double him in the post. I’m impressed with him.

Svi for 3:

Making 47% of his 3’s, almost 60% at home is crazy good. Maybe the biggest addition to his game could be his mental maturity. He can miss 5-6 shots in a row and yet still can come through with clutch shot after clutch shot. We always wonder who’s the guy we want taking a shot with the game on the line, in my opinion Svi is without question our best option. He’s quietly been racking up assists as well averaging over 3 a game in conference play.

Mitch’s minutes:

Since Mitch’s great game vs TCU he really hasn’t seen an uptick in minutes- just 8 per in the last 4. Some of its been due to the flow of the game, some of it is Doke staying out of foul trouble. And then we have Silvio joining the rotation so Mitch is in a situation where his stats are always going to fluctuate. The TCU game has in my opinion made him more confident out there at least to the eye. We know what we are getting from him, hustle, effort, some often spectacular blocks and the occasional perimeter shot. Keep it up young fella

Devonte’s FTs

Has anyone else noticed his FT’s numbers going up in conference play. Averaging 8 per game in far and a team best 86% from the line. He’s done an admirable job running the team for the most part. 2.6/1 assist t/o ratio is solid, making 43% of 3’s, what else we want from him?

Very familiar with this Vermont team over the years being from the state myself.

They lost a ton from last years squad. They were upset in the finals of their conference tourney in the final seconds against UMBC who then when on to make history beating Virginia.

Normally VT is very good in their league (31-1) last two years - Not a typo by the way.

Becker, their coach is really good for this level and has recently turned out some really sound defensive teams. They had Kentucky on the ropes in Rupp last year before blowing the game in the final minute.

This years squad though is lacking talent to compete with the KU’s of the world. They have 3 brothers on the team, the Duncan’s which I’m wondering if its a record? 3 brothers on the same team at the same time? The oldest Duncan is a 3 pt specialist with over 200 3’s in his career. The middle Duncan can shoot as well and will be asked to take on a significantly greater role with all the graduations from last year. The youngest has been rumored to be the best of the 3. Their best player Anthony Lamb, missed a big portion of last year with an injury but VT was so deep and had a veteran squad that they didn’t miss a beat. He’s a candidate to score 20 a game for them this year. He’s a bruising big man with a body like Bonzie Colson & George Niang. He’s only 6’6 which limits him against the P5 teams but in his league he’ll be very difficult to stop.

There is no way this game is close. Should be one of the easier games KU has all year

You can’t go wrong with either but Duval is an OAD, I don’t think the OAD option is there for Young and with what he’s said to the media that is not his plan anyway.

I think Duval is waiting out the Duke offer as @BShark said and roster movements at the end of the year. What Matt Coleman decides to do is important in this battle. If Coleman signs with Duke- KU is definitely the favorite (if Young doesn’t sign with KU before that point). If Coleman goes to Texas or the unlikely 3rd option in Stanford- Duke will probably win his recruitment.

I’m almost certain Bill Self wants Trae Young more than Duval. Young is an outstanding kid both on/off the court. Self has been after him since his Sophomore year and every chance Self and his staff get since the spring they have been following him full staff. That’s unusual to do when KU is usually after a lot of guys and resources need to be spread out.

Duval & Young would both fit differently in the KU system.

Duval is a tremendous athlete- elite for the PG position ( I think Derrick Rose/John Wall) when I see him. Neither was a prolific jump-shooter but athletically/physically they were better then everyone around them. Duval is not a great shooter and lives by getting into the paint. At the next level he will have to work on his shot a lot- think Josh Jackson in terms of shooting ability at this point. Duval has excellent vision, transition skills and speed to go along with excellent ball-handling. He’d fit in well with Vick/Newman/Svi (possibly back) & Garrett.

With Young your getting a floor leader and in my opinion one of the most fearless and elite shooters I’ve ever seen at the High School level. In the gym range is a term that I don’t throw out lightly and Young has that ability. When you look at how Steph Curry has changed the NBA game with his shooting I see some similarities in Young. Young isn’t an elite athlete-maybe sometimes underrated but by no means an above-the-rim player so that limits his attractiveness in the NBA. He’ll have to become really good at everything else to make up for that. Young is also a kid that can become versatile in the 2 PG option that Self has been using currently. You can put Young off the ball because his shooting ability has to be accounted for. He would provide better floor spacing for the offense. I would be okay with using Trae as our primary ball-handler as a freshman. It’s not ideal but I don’t think Young is the type of player you can keep off the floor if he picks up the offense quickly.

Defensively Duval would be the better get. Duval has excellent size and length to bother opposing PG’s. I think Young is also an underrated defender but in College he’s going to have to bulk up some to handle guys that are bigger and more mature than him.

In the end I would take Young’s shooting ability and versatility to play the secondary ball-handler position that Graham currently fills. Plus your getting a multi-year player that will provide more roster stability.

I actually thinking losing at OSU is more likely than losing Saturday. OSU has been on a roll and we always forget to get off the bus in Stillwater.

Don’t get me wrong I think Baylor will be pumped to win this game and its more important for them then us in the grand scheme of things. But its an early start and traditionally Waco is a place that isn’t as tough to play as others on our schedule. I think this is another pride game for KU and I expect we will play with enough toughness to pull it out. I was less confident earlier in the week when emotions from the improbable comeback victory Monday were still fresh. But with 5 days to rest and prepare I’m thinking these guys just go in with that killer instinct and get it done

I think we have had Grimes as a silent commitment for months and Q and his family have enjoyed the process taking visits, respecting the schools that put in effort to recruit him and making sure KU was the right fit for him after all that has happened this fall. The in-home visits, the drop by’s randomly during the week, the official visit, the surprise visit to his school yesterday have all been proof KU has led and recruited him to the fullest extent they are capable of doing. His mom is Alum, he has family in the area, he’s an Adidas kid (it still matters). Everything points to him wearing Crimson and Blue next season

I don’t think Newman fits on this team. He just doesn’t seem to gel with anyone, there is zero rhythm in anything he does. It’s the biggest disappointment to this team right now. Id say Preston but he’s barely apart of the team as it is. Let me ask this question. Has Newman made one play all season where you were like oh wow that’s nice? I watched him in particular last night and he picks and chooses where to exert effort. Some plays his defense is stellar, some plays offensively he makes the right read, pass etc but there is very little consistent effort in his game. If I was Self I’d be trying figure how to motivate him.

I like bringing him off the bench, I think he’s shown he’s not a starter in 13 games yet. Garrett just fits better with our other 3 guards right now. Garrett rebounds, defends and moves the ball as well as anyone on the team. Important that he continues to do those things